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They are serving as on an ad hoc basis / contractual basis in various branches of Engineering, namely; Electrical, Mechanical Engineering, Electronics and Communications etc.

4. Pursuant to advertisement given by the Gujarat Public Service Commission (for short, `the GPSC') in the years 2015-16 for 111 posts of Lecturers and 87 posts of Assistant Professors, the GPSC declared the results on 13.6.2019 declaring 111 candidates as successful to be recommended for appointment. Similarly, for the post of Assistant Professors, 87 candidates were recommended by the GPSC.

* Mr. Qureshi would submit that in the recent past, there has been no advertisement on behalf of GPSC. The last one was in the year 2015-16. It is not open for the State to contend that the petitioners failed to clear in the GPSC examinations held from time to time falling due under their tenure. The petitioners could not appear because they were not given leaves and therefore even they could not cope up with the existing workload as Lecturers to prepare for the GPSC examination. He would submit that in the year 2010, Recruitment Rules were changed initially the qualifications for Diploma and Degree Branches were the same i.e. B.E. / B. Tech. However, thereafter, for C/SCA/18352/2019 CAV JUDGMENT DATED: 07/10/2022 the Degree side minimum qualification required was M. E. / M. Tech. The GPSC came out with an advertisement in the year 2010 for appointment as Lecturers in Diploma side by prescribing B.E. + 75 percentile in GAT or M.E. / M.Tech. Most of the petitioners could not apply because it is difficult to pursue higher education while in service. Mr. Qureshi would challenge the competence of the State to bring out the Government Resolutions dated 7.2.2020 and 27.7.2020 reducing the intake in Diploma Engineering Colleges and Restructuring. He would submit that Clause 4(d) of the AICTE Regulations, 1994 clearly stipulate that no approved intake capacity of seats shall be increased except with the approval of the Council. He would submit that the GRs are brought without complying the conditions of students intake reduction as prescribed under AICTE handbook. Appendix 3 of the Handbook prescribes the ratio of intake in Degree and Diploma Colleges which is required to be maintained and the C/SCA/18352/2019 CAV JUDGMENT DATED: 07/10/2022 GRs reduced and downsize the seats in an unilateral manner without approval of the AICTE. There is no proper assessment of intake and the data is collected not of the past five years. He would rely on the decision in the case of Parshavanath Charitable Trust v. AICTE reported in 2013(3) SCC, 385. He would rely on paragraph No.27 of the said decision. * Mr. Qureshi would submit that the earlier GR dated 16.8.2018 contend reference to instructions of the AICTE dated 4.1.2016 which is absent in the present GR clearly shows that the impugned GRs are issued without instructions of the AICTE. * Mr. Qureshi would submit that there is no reason to reduce intake on the student seats as pleaded by the State. The data is incorrect. In the year 2019-20, the EWS was implemented and 25% additional seats were introduced. The intake increase from 40:50 to C/SCA/18352/2019 CAV JUDGMENT DATED: 07/10/2022 50:62. If the student intake and set up is not reduced by the impugned GRs, all the ad hoc contractual employees and GPSC selected employees can be accommodated. This artificial reduction by GRs is bad. * Mr. Qureshi would submit that the Government should be directed to bring out some plan or a Scheme to accommodate ad hoc / contractual employees. * Mr. Qureshi would make the same submissions in context of ad hoc Assistant Professors in Government Engineering Colleges in the Electronics and Communications Branch.

* Mr. Nanavati would further submit that Resolution dated 27.07.2020 issued by respondent No.1 is illegal, inasmuch as, the GPSC is an independent constitutional body under Article 315 and the GR is not binding on respondent No.2. The GPSC cannot act merely on such recommendation of the State, it being an independent body of the State under Article 320 of the Constitution of India.

* Mr. Nanavati would rely on the communications received under the Right to Information Act which indicates that, the State had taken a conscious decision that such reduction in the faculty cannot be done C/SCA/18352/2019 CAV JUDGMENT DATED: 07/10/2022 without approval of the AICTE and, therefore the action of downsizing without such approval and without taking the GPSC into confidence was misconceived. * Mr. Nanavati would further submit that it was on 10.02.2020 after vacating of the interim order, the petitioners were entitled to be appointed as being part of the original 111 appointees / recommendees and, thereafter, truncating the select list to 24 is bad. He would also challenge the truncation of the list of 24 candidates and submit that considering of only 24 candidates against 111 previously selected candidates was without following due procedure. He would submit that if the GPSC had decided to reduce vacancy then the cut off for shortlisting the candidates for interview should be considered on the basis of the merit examination and only then the interviews could have been taken on the basis of the merit in the written examination. However, the final result is illegal C/SCA/18352/2019 CAV JUDGMENT DATED: 07/10/2022 inasmuch as it was published without following due procedure of calling the appropriate numbers for interview based on the written examination but including the grading of interview in preparing the final result.

C/SCA/18352/2019 CAV JUDGMENT DATED: 07/10/2022

20. I respectfully say that the State Government, in its Education Department, recently came out with a Government Resolution dated 27.07.2020, wherein a major restructuring has taken place in various 22 disciplines of Government Polytechnic colleges including the branch of Mechanical Engineering (Diploma), wherein, due to the significant reduction in the student intake, the sanctioned posts in the Mechanical branch came to be reduced from 540 to 450. Annexed hereto and marked as Annexure-V is a copy of the said GR dated 27.07.2020. I respectfully say that initially i.e. before the restructuring, the sanctioned posts used to be 540, out of which 425 were already filled up by the regularly GPSC appointed lecturers and 44 were filled up by the ad-hoc / contractual, leaving the total vacancy to the tune of 71. It is due to the significant reduction in the admission of the students in the polytechnic colleges, the State Government had to issue a Government Resolution dated 27.07.2020, whereby the sanctioned posts were reduced to 450. Pertinently, because of such reduction in the sanctioned posts by 90, there is a surplus staff consisting of 19 lecturers, against which 44 are adhoc / contractual appointees. I respectfully say that there are 111 GPSC recommended lecturers who have already been selected and will have to be adjusted in the sanctioned posts of 450, and since there are no vacancies left to accommodate all the 111 GPSC recommended lecturers, the said entire list of 111 GPSC recommended lecturers will not be operated, and instead only 24 (Sanctioned posts 450 - 425 posts already filled up by GPSC earlier) GPSC recommended lecturers shall be given the posting. In such eventuality, 43 adhoc / contractual appointees out of 44 shall have to make way for the batch of 24 GPSC recommended lecturers leaving 1 sanctioned post available for the adhoc/ contractual appointee. The Copy of the tabular disclosure of the above details is reproduced as under: